Kickstart This: Short Horror Film 'Paisley' Has the Spirit of 'Gremlins'

Welcome back to another edition of Kickstart This, FirstShowing's weekly column dedicated to spreading the word about cool indie projects that need your help to become a reality. We'd like to turn your attention to a short film project called Paisley, a horror project that features a ton of practical puppet effects and draws inspiration from films like Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal & Labyrinth, and Joe Dante's classic Gremlins. And if you don't dig straight horror movies, fear not: there will be a lot of comedic elements in this, too. Take a look at the pitch video below, comment, and don't forget to donate if you can. Check it out!

Director Matt Olmon is a Oscar and Emmy-winning filmmaker. (You may have seen his work on the Back to the Future Nike Mag shoe campaign a couple of years back, or on this Diet Coke commercial that debuted at last year's Oscar ceremony.) Along with Gremlins, Olmon cites movies like The Neverending Story and the godawful 1985 movie Ghoulies as making him think about the world in a different way and want to tell stories with made-up creatures that don't exist. It's a bold goal to strive for in today's tentpole world, but Joe Cornish proved it can still work ('80s nostalgia and all) with his fantastic 2011 sci-fi Attack the Block.

The story for the film follows a tech-challenged widow who accidentally locks herself inside her own house with the deadliest creature in the galaxy: Paisley. Olmon, who is a visual effects producer as well as a director, has surrounded himself with some impressive talent that will work alongside him if funding comes for this project through. Bloody-Disgusting.com Los Angeles co-editor and screenwriter Evan Dickson will be writing the screenplay, and Dustin Cawood (who has worked on films like Lincoln, Toy Story 3, and Super 8) has signed on as the film's sound designer. Take a look at their pitch video below:

For more info on Paisley, and to help support the project, visit its Kickstarter page. Director Matt Olmon is hoping to raise $25,000 by this Wednesday, March 20th, so there isn't much time left for us to help. Please donate and show your support if you can, but if you can't spare the cash right now, I'm sure Olmon would appreciate you spreading the word about their project to friends on Facebook and Twitter who might enjoy practical effects-driven horror comedies like this.

That's all for this week's Kickstart This. Feel free to e-mail me BenPears85@gmail.com if you come across any cool film-related projects that might need some extra attention to meet their goals. My inbox is always open, and if you send in any Kickstarter or IndieGoGo film project, I can't promise we'll feature it here, but I will always at least take a look at it. Thanks for all of your submissions, keep them coming. (This project, Paisley, was sent via e-mail, so it does work!) As always, thanks so much for your support of these projects because they couldn't be completed without the help of film lovers just like you. For our archives, visit here.